Karens New Family
by Clue Impaired
Summary: Introspection on being part of the NYPD family from Karens POV


Disclaimer: Most of these characters belong to Dick Wolf. You'll know the ones who don't.

Karens New Family

Karen looked around from under the eyelashes at the assembled group of people and felt out of place. She felt like a rank amateur. These people had been police and detectives for years while she was the new kid on the block. Even her partner, Jerry, was laughing and joking with the rest. She looked down at the sheets of information in her lap and wished she were as comfortable as they were.

Captain Ross and Captain Sackett were conferring at the front of the room before beginning the meeting. Jerry nudged her on the arm. "This ought to be quite some meeting, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess it's big alright. I hear that we are about to get an entire system overhaul and they want us to be ready for it."

The captains began to talk and the group stopped chatting to listen. Even Bobby was avidly listening. The fact that he wasn't fidgeting was a sign of how intently he was engrossed in the talk. Karen listened to the captains telling them how the new system would be more data efficient and help them gain information faster for their investigations.

The lecture lasted for only 40 minutes or so, but Karen had lost interest. Jerry could give her the highlights later. He hadn't moved so much as a muscle since they began to discuss the computer specs.

"We will have a short break then you can ask any questions you may have." Ross said.

The detectives got up and moved toward the coffee and refreshments at the table. Karen moved off to the side of the room and watched some of the junior grade detectives fight over the chocolate doughnuts. She didn't want to remember the way she'd been when she was junior grade. It seemed so long ago.

A large body moved over to stand next to her. If she hadn't known that Jerry was a sweater kind of guy, she would've thought it was him. Her peripheral vision said it was Bobby. No one dressed like him. "Feeling a little out of your element?" he asked softly.

"Some." Karen answered with a shrug. "I'll get over it."

"I hope so. Some people never do."

"Like you? Do you still feel out of place after all you've done for this department?"

"Is it that obvious to you?"

"I feel like that. Maybe I'm just projecting onto you." she gave him a little laugh.

"You aren't. A lot of the people I work with think I'm weird. They always have. In some ways I am. Are you hearing things about me?"

I scoffed. "I tell them they're idiots for not listening to you. If they're that stupid they deserve what they get."

"Does that make you unpopular?"

"I don't really care. They're all a bunch of cattle ready for slaughter, they just don't know it yet."

"Sheep."

"Excuse me?"

"Sheep being led to slaughter. That's the phrase."

"That's a fallacy. Cows are just as stupid and there's more meat to them. Have you seen the size of some of these detectives?"

"I'm big."

"Yes, you are, but you're tall and you carry your weight well. Jerry does too. Neither of you are sloppy about your appearances, but some of these guys have an extra person walking around in front of them. That is what I'm talking about."

"As a nation we're fat."

"I guess I'm one of those people who think I should be able to run everyones life and make a difference in them all. If I were running the department, I'd be more strict on the physical training for a lot of these older ones. They spend all their time on the phone or on a fast food run. What they need to do is walk to some of them. Walking is not strenuous and it improves the brain power immensely. I notice you like to walk."

"Alex says it's to use up my excess energy."

"Maybe. Or is it because you think better when your body is in motion? You use more oxygen, use it efficiently and the process of your feet moving moves your mind as well."

"That's an interesting train of thought. What about you?"

"I'm a control freak. If I need to feel I'm in control, I like to walk, because I feel like I'm working on something, I'm in control of my destiny and a moving target is harder to hit than a stationary one."

"You feel like a target a lot?"

"Most of the time. Not so much when Jerry is around. He makes a bigger target than me."

Bobby grinned at me. "I'm the target instead of Alex."

"I don't think that's why she keeps you around. It's something to do with your charm, good looks, and how clever you are at solving crimes. So tell me, how do you make the connections so quickly? The last few cases we've had seemed next to impossible to solve. We got lucky."

"That's how it is sometimes. You just keep plugging along and putting the pieces together until it fits."

"So you have no magic words of wisdom to impart?"

"Sorry. It's a lot of just plain hard work. But then you knew that, didn't you?"

"You just make it look so easy."

"Don't get discouraged. Some are harder than others. And you have your Captain as back up and if all else fails we can all get together for dinner and brainstorm. The kids'd love to see you."

"I'd like that, too. So how do you know you've solved one?"

"I use the puzzle method. I put all the pieces on a mental page and keep adding them up and rearranging them until they begin to build a picture. Sometimes one piece will make it all fall into place."

"Do these kind of meetings still make you nervous? They make me antsy."

"I'm not comfortable in large groups. I probably never will be."

"I guess you married into the wrong family. I hear the Eames is a big clan."

"They're alright. It helps that they are part of the "family". Jerry doesn't have any family?"

"No. Together we make a family, him and I. Not as a couple, but you get the idea. Can I ask you something? Friend to Friend, I mean."

"Go ahead. I can't guarantee that I can answer the question."

"Did you ….have a hard time not being attracted to your partner at first? I know you two made the department reconsider their prejudice about partners being married, but wasn't it hard to keep the two aspects separate? In the beginning?"

"Are you sure you want to know the answer? Are you telling me that and Jerry are….?"

"No. He's sort of cute, but I was just, you know, wondering."

"Alex and I were partners with others before we came to Major Case. I wasn't able to work with anyone else for very long. She understands me and I'm lucky to have her. I won't say it was easy, and we had some issues to work out, but I wouldn't change it for the world."

Their chat off to the side had not gone unnoticed. Alex and Jerry came over to them. "You two look like you're having a nice chat." Alex told Bobby with a curious smile.

"We were just discussing the new computer system." Karen told Jerry. "And Bobby was helping me understand the system."

"Bobby can be good that way. Would you two like to come to our house for dinner Saturday night? I'll make sure Bobby does the cooking? I'd like that and I know the kids'd love to see you." Alex knew there was more to the conversation than the computer system, but she also knew if it was something she needed to know her husband would tell her late.

"I'm in. Jerry?" Karen asked her partner.

"I'm there. As long as you let me bring a salad. I have a great new recipe." Jerry enthused.

Alex and Bobby looked at each other and grinned. "I think we have a date." Alex said.

"We'll see you about 7:00." Alex agreed as Captain Sackett called them back to the meeting.

Karen returned to her seat to listen to the rest of the lecture. She felt an arm rest on the back of her chair. It was Jerry. He smiled at her and turned his attention back to the front. Bobby caught her look and smiled at the arm on the chair behind her. To her surprise, he winked at her and gave her a small smile. She knew she was where she could be happy and he wanted her to know he knew it, too.

Fin


End file.
